review in Christian Century

Since Christian Century did an issue with a cover story on Bono a couple months ago and didn't do anything with my book (rumor was at the time that they might print an excerpt of it), I sort of thought they wouldn't do anything. So imagine my pleasant surprise when the recent issue had a longish review by Century Assistant Editor, Jason Byassee! I'm glad for the review because, unlike many reviews which seem to only get one layer of the book, he got multiple layers. What do I mean by that? Some people have said, "oh, fun book, but no new stuff on U2" as if my point was to dredge up more personal details on the band to sacrifice on the altar of celebrity worship. Not. Others have said they really liked the justaposition of bible verses or genres and songs of U2, and that's great. A few, like my boss Miroslav Volf, have come away thinking how profoundly theological and how smart the band are with their art. Super. I really wanted to portray the richness of their work without writing an esoteric academic book like U2 and Philosophy--interesting for what it is, but only understandable and relevant to a much smaller audience. And Byassee noted, without really getting into it, the core theological agenda of the book which is to try to interpret a coherent religious voice in the band's work along the lines of the theology of the cross, a means of asking how to speak the truth about God, the world, and ourselves. This aspect of the book goes deepest, and helps (I think) make some sense of the divide between Christians--those whose morality focuses more on saying the "f-bomb" and those up in arms about poverty and hunger. I think the divide should be overcome and part of the choice of my publisher was an effort to have the book speak--and get entre into--the world of people whose concern for the manners of the band prevent them from thinking of them as Christian and wholesome for thier souls. Bono's doing his own work in this largely evangelical world these days--including his recent talk at the Leadership Summit. Anyway, here's the review--and thanks, Jason-- I'm honored by your words.


One Step Closer: Why U2 Matters to Those Seeking God
reviewed by Jason Byassee

One Step Closer: Why U2 Matters to Those Seeking God
by Christian Scharen
Brazos, 208 pp., $14.99 paperback

Click here to buy from Amazon.com

Reading this book prompted a minor conversion on my part. You can hardly be a member of my generation and not love the rock group U2, but I'd found the enthusiasm about its theological significance annoying. The rush to baptize the band seemed to me a matter of Christians' desperation to be cool. I was happy to turn up the volume when U2 came on—and I didn't need to be told they're "one of us" to do so.

Christian Scharen's book has shown me that those who follow U2 with religious zeal are closer to being correct than I was. U2 has about it more than a religious veneer, Scharen explains. And more than a profound moral seriousness, as is made clear in the band's impassioned singing for peace in Ireland and against nuclear proliferation, its moving praise of Martin Luther King, its work against apartheid and its championing of the poor by way of Jubilee 2000 and the One Campaign. The members of U2 are genuine theologians who have digested the scriptures and reiterate them in their songs in what Scharen describes as iconic fashion. They speak in parables, offering discourse about the soul for those with ears to hear.

Read the rest of the review here.